I paid a visit to Reculver after work. There was a bitingly
cold strong south westerly wind. As there appeared to be nothing going on out
at sea I decided to have a walk along the back of the oyster farm. Something
that I have not done for a long time. There wasn’t any sign of the Kingfisher by the pumping
station but a little further on a Redshank was much more obliging and gave some
very nice views. They are always so wary that it was nice for a change not to
hear an alarm call and see it disappear from view.
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| Redshank |
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| Redshank |
I carried on round and found it to be very quiet. A group of
120 Linnets were flying up now and then and I saw a couple of Little Grebe in
the dyke, which was nice. There was also a pair of Mute Swan.
As I came to the green bank I could see a dragonfly hawking
for insects. It was very reluctant to go down but finally came to rest,
partially obscured in a bush. I managed a photo and, though poor, it makes a
nice memory shot. It was a Migrant Hawker.
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| Migrant Hawker |
I headed back towards the sea wall but apart from a few Reed
Bunting and Goldfinches it was very quiet indeed. There was not any sign of the
Short-eared Owl unfortunately. It always makes my day when I see one.
The light was fading fast as I approached the sea wall and
the sea still appeared to be very quiet. I got a real surprise when I saw a
Common Seal on the beach. I have only seen them out to sea before. A dog walker was coming along the beach and the seal started to try and make its way back down to the sea, something that appeared to be a
huge effort for it, as it tried to propell itself forward on the land, and it needed to rest frequently. The tide was a fair way out so it had quite a distance to cover. I asked the dog walker to stop and keep hold of their dog and allow it to reach the sea, which they did and I was pleased when it reached the
sea safely.
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| Common Seal |
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| Common Seal |
As I headed home, behind me I was treated to a lovely view
of the rising moon while in front of me, the setting sun finished the visit off
nicely.
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| Moon Rising |
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| Sunset |
As I came up to the towers I thought there was an owl
sitting on one of the posts. I couldn’t believe my luck and gradually crept
closer and even though it was almost dark I thought I would try for a photo. I
couldn’t get the camera to focus as it really was too dark so I carried on creeping up
the path, and couldn't believe it when it didn't fly, whereupon I discovered that my owl was actually a saddle cover that
somebody had put on top of one of the posts. No wonder it had not flown off. Ah
well, such is life. At least I headed home chuckling.
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